One mum transformed a $59 IKEA cabinet into a gorgeous birdcage for her nine-year-old daughter’s budgie, and the two of them couldn’t be happier!

Shoni made Aquaman’s cage from IKEA and Kmart supplies. Credit: Facebook/Shon Condron.​

For her daughter’s ninth birthday, Shoni Condron gave her little kid Aquaman – the name of the yellow and blue-coloured parakeet. Along with him came a vertical birdcage uniquely made by the mum as part of the birthday surprise.

“There were lots of tears when we gave her Aquaman and his cage,” said Shoni, who revealed that the inspiration came when she saw a repurposed China cabinet on Pinterest.

Before giving Aquaman to her daughter, the mum-of-two initially wanted to buy a different birdcage she found on Instagram. However, she couldn’t find anything similar to it in Australia.

“I couldn't find anything after weeks of looking on Marketplace, so I investigated retail items and learnt that IKEA does not use lead in their products,” she said, deciding that it would be best to make a custom birdcage instead.

She found the $59 Baggebo display cabinet on her IKEA run, which you can see, has the potential to become the perfect avian retreat. Then, she went to work on it.

First, she removed the shelves inside the cabinet to give the little budgie more free space to roam around. Then she added a $3 Kmart palm leaf wallpaper to the back of the cabinet for a more natural touch. She also added an old mirror by hot-gluing it to the surface.

Once dried, she added the remaining necessary fixtures: a water bowl, food bowl, some toys, and native wooden branches that are changed monthly to give Aquaman a lot of options to perch from.

Shoni shared photos of the refurbished birdcage on a Facebook group, which attracted a ton of attention from members and fellow pet owners.

“Hacked this IKEA unit to make birdcage for our little guy Aquaman. Sides are lead-free mesh, and he is out and about for most of the day,” she wrote in the caption.

“He loves it!”

And it wasn't just Aquaman who loved his new cage. Several commenters also applauded Shoni’s work.

One member said, “Well, that’s just bloody brilliant!”

While another person joked, “That’s so cool! How is a bird’s room better than mine,” along with a purple heart and a laughing emoji.

Shoni also said that she decided to keep the cabinet’s original glass door, which left one person asking: “Does your little budgie fly into the glass thinking the door is open?” to which she responded by saying Aquaman knows whether the door is open or not, and has never flown into the glass door.

Shoni’s nine-year-old daughter and her pet budgie, Aquaman. Credit: Facebook/Shon Condron.​

“Both my daughters love him; however, he is the nine-year-old’s pet. He even loves her photo and follows her around the house,” said Shoni.

“My daughter dotes on him daily, giving him baths, playing tricks. He falls asleep on her some nights, and he has to sleep in his cage so he doesn’t get squashed.”

She shared that the vertical birdcage is beside her daughter’s bed, and Aquaman wakes her up in the morning to play before she goes to school.

Inspired to get a little feathered friend of your own? Well then check out this video to learn the basics of taking care of a budgie!

Credit: Alex AxP.​

We love a great pet story here at the SDC. Seems like these two are quite the pair! Do you have pets at home? Or have you done some DIY for your animal friends? Let us know in the comments below! Whether they walk, fly, slither or swim, we would love to hear about them!

 

[JayKay]

In 1963, my brother caught an escaped aqua blue budgie in the local park.
He put him in a fruit crate with perspex over the top and filled it with twigs from our River Red gumtree.
Initially, Mum said we couldn't keep him, but the next week, she must have told people at her work about 'Bluey'.
She carted home on the tram a beautiful blue bird cage someone from work gave her.
From the tram, she had a long walk to get home, carrying the cage. Thanks Mum!
A few months later, I caught another aqua blue budgie sitting on our back fence.
I believe he could hear Bluey whistling inside.
I took a flat tin with birdseed in it out to the new budgie, and he hopped straight onto the tin of seed.
I carried him inside. He had a front toe missing.
Bluey and Bluey Too were buddies for 15 years.
They were gorgeous little pets, they sat on my shoulder, and whistled when asked.

 

[Capsam]

What a wonderful & creative mum! Aquaman is a lucky budgie with a penthouse home and the best friend & carer in the world! My budgie, Miss Gelato has a big cage & many toys but she would turn green with envy if I showed her Aquaman’s pad!

 

[Liz]

What a clever idea and a clever Mum. We had an old woodshed in the backyard as a child and my father made it into an aviary. Great way to teach young people the responsibility of owning and caring for pets. Some people just get puppies, kittens, birds etc for fun. I wish they would realise they are a life time committment and if you aren't prepared to care for them during good and bad times dont get them. It is no wonder the shelters are full of animals at this time of year and a lot of people got dogs during covid and I am appalled to say they are being surrendered like crazy.

 

[Julie1]

Reading replies to this article reminded me of my first budgie, Hamish. I lived in a suburb of Wollongong NSW at the time.
My boyfriend was Scottish.
Hamish got sick with a cold diagnosed by a vet. I kept him warm by using an old lamp.
We married later and moved to Canberra ACT.
Where we had another son and bought another budgie and called her Zoe.
Not sure when this happened but the boys (toddlers 3 & 2, I think they’re now 34 & 33) accidentally opened the back door and the budgies escaped. We caught them. This happened a second time and we weren’t able to catch them.
I hoped at the time that someone had caught them to keep as a pet.